In order to construct bias belted and radial tires it is necessary to manufacture reinforced fabric which has its reinforcing cords angularly or perpendicularly inclined with respect to a circumferential reference plane of the tire. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,087,965, which patent is owned by our common assignee, The Steelastic Company, reinforced tire fabric for radial tires can be manufactured by feeding a continuous ribbon of elastomeric material, having reinforcing cords oriented parallel to the length of the ribbon, past a cutting mechanism and onto an assembly table at a predetermined angle with respect to the cutting mechanism; severing a strip of predetermined length from the ribbon; and manipulating the strip so as to affix it to the precedingly deposited strip.
The apparatus, disclosed in the above patent, solved many of the problems associated with the construction of reinforced tire fabric by known methods such as calendaring. Although the previous apparatus has successfully accomplished the efficient construction of reinforced tire fabric, the transfer mechanism of the apparatus, which served to engage the ribbon, carry it past the cutting mechanism and precisely deposit it upon the assembly table, required the manufacture, assembly and operation of a mechanism having numerous interacting components.
While the earlier transfer mechanism has functioned reliably and in a satisfactory manner, it has done so with numerous interacting components, particularly pneumatic cylinders and limit switches. Each of these increases the expense of manufacture, assembly and maintenance and thus, a need has been perceived to simplify the transfer mechanism of the apparatus in order to decrease the foregoing expenses as well as increase the efficiency and the speed of the transfer mechanism.